Breaking barriers to progress - Achim Steiner - Head of United Nations Development Program (UNDP)

Acclaimed actor, filmmaker and three-time Academy Award nominee Edward Norton has long been raising his voice on behalf of the planet and its most vulnerable communities. As a UN Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity, he is championing the protection of biodiversity for the well-being of all.   “It’s quite heartbreaking. I started diving, when I was 14, in the Caribbean. The change to the reef environments in the Caribbean in my adult lifetime is staggering and really upsetting. Reefs are in just terrible shape, terrible shape. Bleached, covered with algae, fish a fraction of what they were. What was vibrant and colorful and rich is just sort of denuded. It looks like a burnt forest or something. It’s just not, it’s not as alive.”   Working closely with communities in East Africa and around the world, Edward Norton is pushing for conservation that also tackles poverty by providing sustainable sources of income for local communities.   In this special episode, the Hollywood star reflects on his activist upbringing, his hopes for his children, and on balancing a successful acting career with a rich, varied and meaningful life.  

Muhannad Hadi knew that humanitarian work was his calling from an early age. Now UN Deputy Special Coordinator and humanitarian coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, he is devoting himself to helping to alleviate the unimaginable suffering in Gaza.  “They told me that agony, 24/7. They told me what they go through from the morning until they drop asleep, out of exhaustion. And I promised that I will tell the story.” The UN estimates that the ongoing conflict in Gaza has displaced up to 1.9 million people – 90% of the population - many of whom have fled multiple times. In this episode, Muhannad Hadi reflects on the horrendous conditions in Gaza, the importance of having a supportive family, and how his time volunteering in Jordan led to a lifelong humanitarian career.  

Growing up as a refugee in Burundi, Juliette Murekeyisoni dedicated herself to helping others from an early age. In her recent role as UNHCR’s deputy representative in South Sudan, she continued to keep hope alive by encouraging refugees to focus on their education and long-term perspectives. “For me, every time I meet them, I tell them: “Don't lose hope, you are not going to be a refugee forever. One day you'll go home, and you can use the skills you have learned here. So, any opportunity you have, learn.”  South Sudan hosts around 330,000 refugees as well as 2 million others internally displaced due to conflict, insecurity and the impact of climate change. In this episode, Juliette Murekeyisoni reflects on improving prospects of those forced to flee, on her own traumatic experiences during the Rwandan genocide, and on a life touched by the kindness of strangers.  

Matthew Hollingworth has worked in conflict zones around the world, from Ukraine to South Sudan and Syria. Previously in charge of the World Food Programme’s (WFP) emergency operations in the West Bank and Gaza, Matthew was responsible for delivering life-saving aid to desperate people. “People ask me every single day when I'm in Gaza: “When will the bombs stop? When will the fighting stop? When will they stop blowing things up? When can I go home?” We don't have the answers. But we do know that that is what's needed.” WFP delivers food relief to more than 120 countries across the world suffering the impacts of conflicts, disasters and climate change. In this episode (recorded on 21 June 2024), Matthew Hollingworth reflects on his daily struggle to prevent famine in Gaza, on the apocalyptic scale of the destruction there, and on the morale boost he gets from working with extraordinary colleagues on the ground.  

Growing up on a farm, Beth Bechdol never dreamed of following in her agricultural family’s footsteps. Now Deputy Director-General of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), she has not only returned to her roots, but is now fighting the corner of farmers the world over. “I know what it takes to grow a crop and to provide enough support for your animals. And if you don't have access to any of that, it's crushing. These are the things that on a regular basis keep me up at night.” The United Nations works to defeat hunger and achieve food security around the world, providing emergency agricultural aid to help mitigate food crises. In this episode, Beth Bechdol reflects on the perils of donor fatigue, on the devastation wrought on agriculture by war and climate change, and on what the world can learn from the wisdom of farmers.

Born in Brazil to German parents, Achim Steiner knows first hand the power of cultural exchange to drive international cooperation. Now head of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), he leads global efforts to secure a better future for our planet and its people. “The clearest lesson from 50 years of modern development thinking is don't try and just pick one aspect and put all your eggs in that basket. Society is complex, development is about choices. And you will either get them right and succeed or you will fall apart.” Across the world, the UN supports efforts to end poverty, tackle climate change, and break barriers to progress and development. Yet brutal conflicts can reverse decades of progress in a few short months. In this episode, Achim Steiner reflects on the thorniest challenges facing humanity, on his hopes for a fairer, cleaner future, and on the vital lessons he learned in rural Pakistan. “How, in our age, do we overcome this competition between ecology and economy, which is leading us to so many destructive and ultimately, increasingly catastrophic realities around the world?”

Volker Türk has the greatest respect for those able to hold onto hope when all appears to be lost. As United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, he has devoted his life and career to helping the world’s most vulnerable people. “What has always struck me was encounters with people who are extremely resilient … who actually see hope, including in the most atrocious circumstances, and who just keep doing the right thing.” The Office he leads works around the world to uphold human rights, speaking out against all abuses and empowering people to claim their rights. In this episode, Volker Türk reflects on holding rulebreakers to account, the strength displayed by refugees, and why the best ideas often arrive in the dead of night. “Human rights … is the strongest tool that we have in our hands to be a voice of those who don't have power and to speak truth to those who have the power and to make sure that they understand that yes, that there are limits to power.”

Amy Pope has always championed humane and orderly migration as an opportunity for societies, not a problem. Now the first female Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) she is campaigning for a fundamental shift in attitudes towards newcomers. “You just give somebody a little space. Everybody has purpose. Everybody has dreams, everybody wants to be seen.” Human migration is likely to rise over the coming decades, with the IOM predicting that hundreds of millions of people could be displaced due to climate change alone. In this episode, Amy Pope reflects on how better to prepare communities and why celebrating the contributions of migrants is a win-win for societies around the world.  “The evidence is pretty overwhelming that it doesn't even take very long for migration to actually pay out pretty significantly for the communities who host the migrants, and definitely for the communities that migrants are coming from.”

Big or small, Joyce Msuya has always found ways to give back. Now Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, she oversees the global response to the world’s worst crises. “For me, personally, it's a privilege to serve humanity. I wake up every morning and think about how I can shift the needle in someone's life.” From Gaza to Ukraine, Haiti to Sudan, the UN estimates 300 million people around the world are in need of life-saving assistance and protection. In this episode, Joyce Msuya reflects on keeping hope alive despite waking to fresh crises every day, on the shocking impacts of climate-related extreme weather, and on the long-term benefits of a strict boarding school. “A peaceful world would be a gift for all humanity. There's just too much suffering everywhere. If we can live a better and more peaceful world for our children than what we are currently living with, then humanity will be well served.”

Doreen Bogdan-Martin’s fascinating career handed her a front row seat for the digital revolution. Now Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), she’s among those leading global efforts to set guardrails on the use of Artificial Intelligence. “I think we've never seen anything like this before … the plane is in flight and we're building it while we're flying - it's tremendous.” AI presents huge opportunities for humanity, but also poses great risks. In this episode, Doreen Bogdan-Martin reflects on working to ensure the humane and sustainable use of AI, on connecting the billions around the world who are not yet online, and on juggling a career with four children. “2.6 billion people don't have access to the internet … if you're not part of the digital revolution, you're not going to be part of the AI revolution – we’ve got to close that gap.”